When walking through the streets of Seoul around Christmas, it looks like any other Western city. There’ll be Christmas lights lighting up the streets, sky-scraping Christmas trees, inflatable Santa Clauses, decorative snowflakes, and other traditional decorations.
However, the way in which Christmas is celebrated in South Korea is different from how it’s celebrated in the U.S. For one, Christmas is widely celebrated as a couples’ holiday than a family holiday, similar to Valentine’s Day. One thing I’ve often noticed during my time in Seoul is Koreans seeming to obsess over taking photos. Sure, who doesn’t enjoy taking photos, especially during special moments in life? But in Seoul, it’s taken to a whole other level, where almost everyone is scrambling to take pictures or videos of anything that’s Instagram-worthy. I’d say it’s a big part of the culture since so much effort is put into looks and appearance. Likewise, couples taking photos together in front of a Christmas tree is a very common sight during December in Seoul.
Another difference is that gift-giving isn’t big and mostly only occurs between couples who celebrate. This shocked me because gift-giving is a huge aspect of the Western holidays, with Christmas shopping, wish lists, and Santa Claus delivering presents. But coming from a highly commercialized and materialized society, it’s nice to think about Christmas without adding any value to it, for a change. Still, Christmas commercialism is widespread in Korea, even though exchanging gifts isn’t as common.
Much like in the United States and Canada, Christmas in Korea is a national holiday. In fact, it’s the only East Asian country that has Christmas Day off work. (This is mainly because there are more Christians in Korea than in other East Asian countries. For many, Christmas in Korea is also celebrated as Christ’s birthday.) If you visit South Korea in December, these are some key things to keep in mind. Other than that, I highly recommend exploring all the festive Christmas decorations set up throughout Seoul. And they’re all free! Here are a few places I was able to visit before my program ended:
Seoul Lantern Festival at Cheonggyecheon Stream and Gwanghwamun Square
This is one of the biggest events during Christmas in Seoul and the most popular festival. If you’re looking for somewhere to take pictures, this is definitely the place to check out. There are breathtaking paper lanterns that light up the Cheonggyecheon Stream and many festive LED sculptures to view. If you go to Gwanghwamun Square, there are many even more LED sculptures set out and a cool light show at the Gwanghwamun Gate of the Gyeongbok Palace.
Walking along the Cheonggyecheon Stream
Taking pictures in front of LED wings
An inflatable LED dinosaur at Gwanghwamun Square
Characters from Snow White displayed at Gwanghwamun SquareSeoul Christmas Festival at Cheonggyecheon Plaza
At Cheonggyecheon Plaza, there’s a ginormous Christmas tree shaped like a seven-tiered cake. This got me really excited. In front of the tree, a small lit-up waterfall adds to the dazzling image. There are also really cute Christmas figures to take pictures with, which I of course took advantage of.
A Christmas tree displayed at Cheonggyecheon Plaza with the words “Merry Christmas”
Posing with a reindeer characterThe Christmas Market at Gwanghwamun Square
If you’d like to do some Christmas shopping and support small businesses, I recommend going to the Christmas Market at Gwanghwamun Square. There are handmade crafts, holiday treats, jewelry, souvenirs, and more. Plus, there’s a colorful Christmas tree at the center you can take pictures with.
Shopping at the Christmas Market
A Christmas tree at the center of the marketMelody Pha, Messiah University, is studying abroad in South Korea with TEAN.
